Agreed Jason. Just like on the food boards, some people post about multi-course meals in fantastic places that some of us could only dream about. Others post about their local burger joint. All are welcome and appreciated.

We drink a lot of wine, and 90% of the bottles we drink are $10-20. If someone tells me they find a great wine for $5-8, I’m all in to give it a try. I also, however, love to see something special that Jason or someone else enjoyed. In fact, I usually read Jason’s very informative posts and then do some more research on the wine so I can learn more.

I think Jason just wants everyone to participate so we can expand and grow this community - there are no barriers to entry/learning/participation.

Actually, I did understand your point. However, look at it from the “average” person’s perspective. You are the primary poster on this board. You post about the wonderful wines you drink and your thoughts on them. However, most of the wines you post about are out of the hands of the average person. Not everyone was able to buy a bottle of wine for $6 back in 1970 and cellar it for 45 years. The majority of us don’t have wine cellars with hundreds of bottles of wine. I understand you worked in the wine industry, and that’s how you obtained many of your bottles and you are passionate about wine, but for those of us buying $17 bottles of Justin Cab from Costco, it’s pretty intimidating. I’ve already been chided for buying wines from Costco and Total Wine instead of from a wine shop.

Those chiding you about Costco or Total Wine are missing out on a lot they would enjoy. We’ve never had a clunker from either — there’s too much at stake for their selections to be thoughtless bad deals.

Never had a New Zealand Pinot before. This was $15 and really nice. A bit spicier than expected but still had a lot of nice cherry and fruits.

We had a very nice New Zealand red wine at a friend’s house a couple weeks ago. I forgot to take a picture of the label, but I was surprised at how nice it was (to my beginner’s palate). I keep meaning to ask my friend for the wine info.

Two disappointments over the weekend. I used to subscribe to K&L’s wine club, and stashed away two Napa cabs for long-term aging, a 2001 Amici and a 1996 Beaulieu Rutherford. Both were oxidized and acetic, subtype acetone, not vinegar. I didn’t expect much from the Amici, but I’ve had 40-year-old BVs that were delightful. Wine Searcher has that BV selling for $119 now. I still have a mixed case or two of other wines from the club, and I guess it’s time to try them.

They were stored in my basement, where the air temperature hovers around 60 in warm weather and 55 in winter, and hadn’t been moved at all for many years.

We had tried a nice Isabel Mondavi Pinot at a tasting recently and wanted to see what else was available: cue in the Isabel Mondavi Deep Rose, which was too strawberry-ish for me and I found it unbalanced. It went with none of the food we tried it with (two consecutive nights). Will most certainly not repurchase.

1996 Allegrjni Amarone. Mellowed substantially since we consumed its brother bottle about ten years ago. Dark fruit but evenly balanced now, with little evidence of it’s dried-in-the-sun beginning methodology. Drank it along with sone Christmas Day grazing apps. Something I don’t thing would have worked when it was much younger.

Our wine board has become way too quiet. Let’s pick it up in the New Year.

We popped the cork on a bottle of Veuve tonight. Every time I open a bottle it makes me want to re-read The Widow Clicquot. It’s a fascinating story of the champagne house and how it was saved by one very smart woman.

Laetitia Brut Coquard - Sparkling wine from 75% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay, if I remember correctly. It was nice and is a decent value if you’re part of the wine club, but did not really compare to the Laurent Perrier we had during the holidays.

I think the wine thread here is dead, but we had a lot of good wine in the Rhine valley of Germany, specifically Bacharach.

We did a tasting of 12 wines from Friedrich Bastian. Two reds and 10 whites. I’m not a fan of sweet riesling so the last four wines listed, i-l, were, to my palate, crazy syrupy sweet. Nonetheless, a great tasting and a really fun patio with tons a chatty visitors.